Cinema Grandpa

Cinema Grandpa (working title)

A screenplay by Julia

INT.   DAY

A small room dimmed by curtains on two neighboring windows. Another wall is lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books. A long wraparound sofa faces a flat-screen TV between the windows. The end credits of a movie scroll upward on the screen, accompanied by a soulful song in a woman’s voice. A low wooden table in front of the sofa, on which lie magazines and a remote control device. Floor lamps. An oriental carpet.

Four men sit on the sofa. ROBIN is 75; BOB is 60; CLIVE is 45 and British; and DAVID is 23. DAVID sits a little apart from the others on one end of the sofa.

DAVID’s POV. The older men gaze at the screen as if mesmerized. They are not reading the credits. They are listening to the song, letting their impressions of the movie sink in, and waiting for their emotions to settle.

DAVID sits forward, rests his elbows on his thighs, and glances nervously at the others. Then he reaches into his pants pocket and draws out a small black recorder. ROBIN reaches for the remote and, all in one movement, stands up and turns off the TV. He puts the remote down and stretches.

ROBIN: These old bones need light and fresh air. What do you say we retire to the porch? (beat) Davey, your grandmother made some iced tea. You know where the glasses are.

Everyone stands up. DAVID puts the recorder back in his pocket, looking flustered.

Cut to a large screened porch. The view on three sides is of a sun-drenched lawn rimmed by trees and shrubs. The older men sit in white wicker chairs with floral cushions. They talk and laugh, but what is heard is an interweaving of birdsong and the movie song. DAVID walks in and out of the frame several times, bringing tea, sugar, lemons and paper napkins and setting them on a low, glass-topped table. He sits down, lifts his tea to his lips, and the music stops.

ROBIN: What was it your teacher wanted to know, Davey?

DAVID: Wait a sec, Grandpa.

DAVID takes the recorder out of his pocket, places it in the middle of the table and turns it on.

BOB: Posterity, Robin. Careful what you say.

CLIVE: Mind you ask your Grandpa the right questions, lad.

DAVID has a wide-eyed look.

DAVID: She said to ask you, Professor Johnston, and Professor Marsh what movies have to say to theology and ethics, and vice versa. Just that.

CLIVE: Just that?

ROBIN: Well, I don’t know, Davey. That’s the first movie I’ve watched in maybe ten years.

CLIVE: Come on, Robin. Get on with it.

BOB: The ethicist has the floor.

ROBIN: I have to say, ethics didn’t prepare me for that scene in the doctor’s office when Larry lost it. My emotions were all over me.

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